Fuel Management

U.S. Postal Service Saves Nearly $12 Million With Fuel-Saving Initiatives

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) saved $11.7 million in fuel costs through a mix of route optimization, alternative-fuel use, purchasing fuel in bulk, and by encouraging employees to adopt more fuel-efficient driving practices.

Government Fleet contacted the USPS and received responses from the organization’s Chief Sustainability Officer Thomas G. Day about these efforts.

The USPS formed 850 "green teams" that focused on driver education and other “no cost” measures as one way to reduce fuel use in addition to promoting other sustainable practices at USPS facilities nationwide. The teams tracked “eco driving” efforts by USPS drivers and focused on spreading awareness of those techniques across the organization. USPS uses a tool called the Green Initiative Tracking Tool (GITT), which reports the amount of petroleum fuel used and related costs, Day said.

In In FY-2012, the USPS operated 212,530 vehicles. This number includes delivery, administrative, trailers, and support vehicles, according to the organization. The USPS’ goal is to reduce its fleet’s petroleum fuel consumption by 20% by 2015.

In 2012, the organization was able to reduce its fuel use by 2.2%, according to Day. USPS spent a total of $517 million on petroleum fuel in 2012. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions reduction, USPS’ Day stated that in 2012, it produced 6,000 fewer metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions through its 41,000 alternative-fuel vehicles (the same number as operated in 2011) than if it had been operating gasoline- or diesel-fueled vehicles.